Sex differences in the recall of affective experiences.
Three studies tested hypotheses for sex differences in the recall of life events: differences in (a) affect intensity at encoding, (b) affect intensity at retrieval, (c) rehearsal, (d) detail of encoding, and (e) artifacts such as motivation or verbal ability. In Study 1 (N = 419), women recalled more positive (p < .01) and more negative (p < .05) life events than men. Differences in retrieval mood were not found. Study 2 (N = 55) replicated the recall differences and showed that neither rehearsal nor artifacts were responsible. Sex differences in recalling neutral everyday events also were obtained (p < .05), suggesting that affect intensity was not responsible. In Study 3 (N = 132), affective reactions to events were unrelated to recall, but sex differences in the detail of encoding (p < .001) were related to recall (p < .05). Sex differences in autobiographical memory are reliable and may be due to differences in the detail of encoding.
Seidlitz
L
L
Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, New York 14642, USA. lysz@troi.cc.rochester.edu
Diener
E
E
D000339:Affect; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires